1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for cleaning a surface of an object, and more particularly to cleaning an object such as a digital audio discs, where a desired cleaning motion is on a path between peripheral and middle portions of the disc.
2. Background Art
In a conventional sound recorded disc, where there is a recording groove arranged in a spiral pattern, with the curve of the spiral following a near circular path, it is a common practice to clean the record with a device such as a pad, with the device moving in a circular path along the grooves of the record. However, for discs that are digitally encoded with information, this generally circular cleaning motion is in some respects undesirable. It can sometimes happen that the cleaning member contacting the surface of the disc makes very minute grooves, and such grooves could damage the proper performance of the disc. Accordingly, it would be desirable to effect a cleaning motion over the surface of the disc which would not parallel the circular or near circular encoding on the disc.
A search of the records of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has disclosed a number of U.S. patents. These are discussed briefly below.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,408,082, Crookston, shows a record cleaner where the cleaning member is positioned on the surface of the record, and the cleaning member is secured to a string that is in turn tied to a post. Thus, the cleaning member tracks the grooves of the record.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,563,701, Agero, shows a device to resurface grooved phonograph records. The system uses a solvent to soften the record surface, and smoothing elements 66 are rotated relative to the surface of the record to resurface the softened material.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,322,986, Weiss et al, shows a cleaner which is rotatably mounted about an axis that extends from the center of the recording disc. This is particularly adapted to remove the threads and chips from recording blanks during the process of cutting the blank. The cleaning member has the shape of a truncated cone and is rotatably mounted to a rod extending from the center location of the record.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,296,156, Fuller, shows a brush member which has bristles that wipe a record blank that is being cut. The contact of the bristles with the phonograph record will subject the brush to a rotational motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,266,875, LeBell, shows a brush that is mounted to a base that is set off to one side of the record. An elongate piece of felt or similar material is disposed in a direction extending radially toward the center of the record.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,335,352, Slowey, shows a record cleaner where there is a rotating brush element. There is a friction disc which is rotatably mounted and engages the periphery of the turntable. The friction disc in turn operates through a pair of gears to rotate a cylindrical brush that has its axis of rotation extending from the periphery of the record toward the middle portion of the record.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,292,349, May, shows a record-cleaning brush which is suspended from the end of an arm. The arm can be swung out of the way when the brush is not to be used.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an effective apparatus and method for cleaning a disc-like member, and more specifically, a disc-like member having digital encoding thereon.